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DALTON: No support for LID

| September 5, 2010 10:00 PM

The Huender family has owned track 303 (5 acres) in Dalton Gardens since 1974. When we purchased this commercial 5 acres it was zoned commercial and we had big plans for the property. Not much money was available, but there were five structures on the land. They made the mortgage payments.

In 1976 we had Town and Country put up a roof for a 6,000-square-foot building, just the frame for four 1,500-square-foot units with an office and a bathroom and large doors. This actually offered some income. I did 80 percent of the work myself. Then I built a 2,200-square-foot shop and a 3,500-square-foot the same way. I still have some of my original tenants.

My plan was to add a total of 30,000 square feet of shop space on the complex for a total of 52,000 square feet. Then the city decided to have the original waterline in front of our building replaced and stuck us with a bill for $22,000 for a hydrant and 300 feet of pipe. For that I could have built another 2,000-square-foot building. Then the Panhandle Health District put restrictions on any more buildings except for dry shops, basically storage units. This was almost 18 years ago and because of these restrictions, I could not build anymore on my expensive commercial acreage. This ridiculous water metering has cost me more than $700,000 of lost revenue. Coupled with the ordinances in Dalton - signs, buildings, parking, etc. - we now have a commercial property that cannot be built on or expanded.

Now comes the sewer.

Without even contacting the commercial property owners, Dalton decided to let the city of Coeur d'Alene take away 17 feet of our most precious part of our commercial frontage. We have had no response from the assessor as to what they will offer us for our land. I am still for a sewer, but it comes 188 years too late.

I do not trust Dalton City Hall; they hate the commercial area because they screwed it up from the beginning. After declaring it commercial they should have provided the needed facilities. The unbelievable assessment that I was sent for $98,000 for putting in 300 feet of 15-inch pipe in front of our property is criminal.

Our land has been built up, like many others to conform to the new code. In order for us to get any benefit from a sewer, we would have to tear existing buildings down and build something else. This is not a good time. No money is available and there are too many rentals available at cut-rate prices. I will not sign the proposed LID. Dalton did not even help when they paved over Hanley with stimulus funds. For less than $10,000 they could have put in the 8-inch pipe to Government Way plus a sewer manhole.

BE AWARE!

1. How much will it cost to get the sewer to our existing buildings?

2. All the water will now go into the sewer and be charged as wastewater.

3. They would want you to connect in five years.

4. When we have the sewer, they will come and re-assess the property (higher taxes).

5. Water will become more expensive because they will have to move the waterline and maybe make it bigger.

6. Commercial owners already pay approximately double the cost for water in Dalton Gardens.

W. HUENDER

Coeur d'Alene